Wranglers Get Snake Bitten, Lose To Rattlers 53-41

PHOENIX-In what was a tale of two halves for the Wranglers tonight, Austin fell to the Arizona Rattlers 53-41 in front of 9,321 fans in Phoenix.

Although the Rattlers got on the board first with a two-yard touchdown catch coming from the elder Amey brother, Vince, an Arizona lineman, Austin answered back with three consecutive scores.

The first score came from Wranglers wide receiver Otis Amey, who one-upped his brother, throwing the touchdown ball into the stands for their mother, Wynelle. Amey continued the scoring as the Wranglers new starting quarterback Lang Campbell found him for a 40-yard touchdown, extending the lead.

With all the balls bouncing in the way of the Wranglers in the first half, Austin defensive back Damon Mason stripped Rattlers receiver Trandon Harvey of the ball and it immediately popped up into the hands of Sakeen Wright who took the ball 30 yards for a Wranglers touchdown, setting the score at 21-7.

Although Arizona began to creep back with a 19-yard Atnaf Harris touchdown and a bit of trickery coming from Rattlers back-up quarterback Chris Sanders on a 16-yard touchdown toss to Wendall Gaines, Austin continued to keep their lead on a 27-yard Mark Lewis field goal. The Wranglers also finished the half with an interception as Mason snagged a pass to stall the Rattlers drive before the clock expired.

Once the second half began however, the momentum swung in favor of the home team. Austin was able to add seven early in the third on a 12-yard Derrick Lewis touchdown, but Arizona's Harvey began to take over as he scored his first four second half touchdowns.

When the Rattlers began to roll, so did their quarterback Sherdrick Bonner who became just the second player in AFL history to throw for over 40,000 yards, as he finished with 333 yards on 26-of-38 and six touchdowns with one interception.

Austin's quarterback Campbell had moments of greatness in his new role as he threw touchdown passes of 10, 12, 40 and 45 yards, finishing 22-of-39 for 275 yards. He also made some rookie mistakes as he overthrew D.Lewis in the end zone, which resulted in an interception. His second interception came on a miscommunication as he threw the ball to the receivers opposite shoulder and it was tipped for another pick. Overall, Campbell put together streaks that gave fans a taste of what the future holds for this young quarterback.

With the loss, Austin drops to 3-7 while Arizona moves to 3-8 on the season. The Wranglers return home for a two-game home stand beginning next Sunday when Austin hosts Orlando at
3 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center.